SAP NEWSBYTE -
Nearly 90 percent of organizations agree that employing predictive analytic software has given them a competitive advantage, according to a new survey commissioned by SAP AG (NYSE: SAP). As part of its commitment to delivering solutions that address customers’ business needs, the company conducted research in association with LoudHouse, an independent research agency in both the United Kingdom and the United States and found that respondents see predictive analytics software as a key investment for their organizations.

More than 60 percent of those surveyed agree that predictive analytics is currently an investment priority for their organization, while almost 80 percent think predictive analytics will be a crucial investment within the next five years. And nearly 95 percent have seen an increase in the volume of data they are dealing with over the past year. This explosion of data puts pressure on businesses to make sense of it and predict future trends. Increasingly, businesses are looking for a way to bring predictive analytics to the masses and move its use beyond the realm of data scientists to business users. Other key findings of the survey include:

Those who invested in predictive analytics say they are seeing return on investment quickly, with around 30 percent of respondents reporting a “major positive impact” from predictive analytics within the first six months and more than 50 percent indicating positive impact six to nine months after roll out

Those using predictive analytics say it has had a positive impact on their organization with finance, sales and marketing and expect to benefit most from the use of predictive analytics in the future

Businesses say they are using predictive analytics to exploit opportunities rather than minimize risk

Predicting customer needs and market trends are seen as the most valuable scenarios for which to use predictive analytics

“Despite some of the skills and resource challenges, there is a real sense from the research that the emphasis on advanced predictive analytics has moved from minimizing risk to maximizing future growth potential in areas like next best activity for customer relationship management,” said James Fisher, vice president, Marketing, Analytics, SAP. “If businesses can put the right investment into developing a data-driven workforce, alongside data-driven decisions, processes and applications, they can accelerate their performance, reduce decision latency, unlock new global markets and uncover new revenue opportunities.”

To harness this growing market, customers will seek solutions that are user-friendly and easy-to-navigate. A leader in the business intelligence (BI) market, the portfolio of analytics solutions from SAP helps everyday business users to evaluate data and unearth actionable insight. With its recent acquisition of KXEN, SAP deepens this commitment with solutions to enhance the existing portfolio.

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